Racha turtle hatchling sole survivor from 87-egg nest

PHUKET: The green turtle hatchling that clambered through its shell on Racha Island early last Friday morning is the only turtle to hatch from the nest of 87 eggs, Phuket marine officials confirmed today (Sept 14).

The hatchling, which officials have yet to bestow a name, was the first known turtle to hatch on Koh Racha Island, south of Phuket, in 10 years, raising hopes of a return of turtles to Phuket and the surrounding islands. (See story here.)

“Only one baby turtle hatched, that was at 2am on Sept 8, but all the other eggs failed,” Mr Suchart confirmed.

“Two other eggs looked like they were going to produce hatchlings, but they too failed,” he said.

Mr Suchart suspects that moving the eggs to a safer place on Koh Racha after the nest was found on July 14 could have played a dramatic part in the viability of the nest in producing hatchlings.

“However, we could not leave the nest where it was as it was too close to a resort and could have easily been disturbed by tourists,” he explained, noting that the experience had left him deeply saddened.

“We want to know for sure what caused the eggs to fail to hatch, and so they have been taken to the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, where experts today (Sept 14) are examining them in the hope of avoiding future disasters like this,” Mr Suchart added.

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More incompetence by local officials. "...we could not leave the nest where it was as it was too close to a resort and could have easily been disturbed by tourists”. So these buffoons removed all doubt and disturbed the eggs themselves causing almost complete failure. Heaven forbid they could have closed off the area. Just more mismanagement of Thailand's dwindling natural resources...